ROME — 1.5 million VW cars in Italy risk being recalled, a large percentage of the 11 million worldwide that are involved in the scandal that has erupted over VW’s rigging of US car emissions tests. 

  Car owners worldwide are shocked by the news that for years, Germany's largest car manufacturer Volkswagen has been rigging environmental tests for diesel emissions in the US, and act which a leading German newspaper has described as the "most expensive act of stupidity in the history of the car industry”.

  Since the shocking news, the company’s shares have dropped by more than a third in just two days. 

  VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn has recently issued an apology, saying he was "endlessly sorry" for the “manipulation”, and that the company had "betrayed the trust" of millions of people..

 Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for "full transparency" from VW in clearing up the case, and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin has called for an EU inquiry. However, a UK car industry spokesman said there was “no evidence” of cheating.